


These Moments Are the Only Gifts We Need

by flipmeforward (vinterdrog)



Category: Glee
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 07:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2723486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vinterdrog/pseuds/flipmeforward
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sappy Christmas fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These Moments Are the Only Gifts We Need

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been listening to _Foundations_ for like the third time, so this was bound to happen. All I know about hospitals I’ve learned from _Grey’s Anatomy_ , sorry about that.

Since Kurt doesn’t have a sixth sense, he doesn’t immediately notice that something is wrong when he gets home. He’s exhausted, and he doesn’t register the lack of greeting from Sebastian until he’s rid himself of his coat and shoes and walks into the living room. Sebastian is curled up on the couch, laptop balanced on his blanket-clad thighs, and it takes Kurt a moment to recognize the sound of the acoustic covers playlist. Sebastian’s go-to comfort music. Sebastian, who should be _packing_ , not sitting on the couch staring at his computer. 

Kurt takes another step forward, opens his mouth to berate his boyfriend, but then he notices the empty ice cream cartoon and the yellow tea mug, and he realizes that somethings has _happened_ , that this isn’t just Sebastian distracting himself from packing. 

“Hey,” he says, again, and Sebastian looks up at him. He looks tired, and worn. Kurt makes his way over to the couch and sits down next to him, places a hand on Sebastian’s knee cautiously. 

“Hey,” Sebastian replies, eventually. 

“What--did something happen?” Kurt asks, confused and a tiny bit hurt, because he usually knows if he’s coming home to a scene like this, because Sebastian usually _calls him_ if something happens. 

Sebastian lets out a humorless laugh and rubs a hand over his face. “Yeah. You could say that.” He puts the computer on the coffee table and turns so he’s sitting beside Kurt, drapes the blanket over both of them. “I have to work,” he says. “Over the holidays.”

“What? But we’re--”

“I’m not,” Sebastian interrupts him. “I’m not going back home tomorrow. I can’t. Half of the interns are down with that three-day stomach bug, and almost everyone who wasn’t scheduled has already gone home.”

“But...” Kurt starts, but falters. He’s not an idiot, he knows staffing a hospital is more important than celebrating Christmas, but...still. “I’m sorry,” he says instead, reaching for Sebastian’s hand and tangling their fingers. 

Kurt has grown increasingly unsentimental with Christmas during the years, doesn’t really have any reason to celebrate it when it’s just his dad and Carole left, but for Sebastian it’s a whole other deal. He has a big family, with siblings and cousins and nephews and nieces and more people than Kurt can count, and Sebastian loves spending Christmas with them. They were supposed to do like last year, spend Christmas Eve and Boxing Day with Kurt’s parents, and Christmas Day with Sebastian’s family, but apparently that’s not happening this year. 

“I guess I had it coming,” Sebastian says bitterly, picking at a loose thread at the edge of the blanket. “I _have_ been getting Christmas off for the last three years.”

“But you _have_ been working both Thanksgiving and New Year’s to compensate,” Kurt says pointedly, because for him, the lack of Sebastian has been very obvious during those holidays. 

“Yeah. I’m sorry. You can still--I mean, I have a 48-hour shift starting tomorrow night, I won’t be home anyway, so you can--you can go. If you want to.”

Two years ago, possibly even one year ago, when they’d just moved in together, Kurt probably would have. But now? Kurt knows he will feel bad going home to celebrate the holidays, to be fed and warm and comfortable, while Sebastian comes home to an empty apartment late on Christmas Day. Kurt can take spending Christmas alone if it means Sebastian won’t have to do it. 

Their tickets are non-refundable, and they have a ton of gifts in the hallway closet for Sebastian’s family, but that can wait. 

“No, I’m staying,” Kurt says, sliding down on the couch so he can rest his head against Sebastian’s shoulder. 

“Yeah?” Sebastian says, and Kurt hears the badly concealed hope in his voice. 

Kurt nods. “Yes. Is there any ice cream left?”

Sebastian squeezes his hand. “There’s another tub in the freezer.”

“Good.”

* * *

 

Sebastian loves his job, but sometimes, just sometimes, he asks himself why the hell he ever thought medicine was a good career path. 

9.14am on Christmas Day is one of those times. It’s hour 37 of his 48-hour shift, and while he hasn’t been awake for all those hours, it certainly _feels_ like he has. He’s been thrown up on three times, has been kicked in the stomach by an aggressive five year old, and hasn’t eaten nowhere near enough solid food. He also hasn’t showered enough, which, when he sneaks in a sniff on his scrubs, he should probably go do. Now. He just has to gather enough energy to move from where he’s resting against the nurses station. 

“Hey, stranger,” comes a warm, familiar voice from behind, and Sebastian spins around so fast that he smashes his elbow into the counter. 

“Kurt! Ow, fuck. Shit. That hurt.”

Kurt chuckles and steps closer. He leans in, wrinkles his nose when he gets close enough and presses a quick kiss to Sebastian’s lips before taking a step back. “Merry Christmas. You smell,” he says, and Sebastian huffs out a dry laugh. 

“Yeah, I know.” He lets his gaze roam over Kurt, his cold-flushed cheeks, his wind-swept hair, his elegant coat and thigh jeans. And-- “Is that coffee?” Sebastian asks when he sees what Kurt is holding. 

Kurt hands him the mug and a paper bag, both emblazoned with the Starbucks logo. Sebastian has a fairly good idea of what’s inside, and when he peeks, his guess is correct. It’s his favorite sandwich and a gingerbread muffin. Combined with _real coffee_ , not the crap he’s been settling with for the last hours. “I love you. A lot,” he says, still with his eyes in the paper bag, and Kurt laughs. 

“I’m not sure if you’re talking to me or the food, but I take it this was a good idea.”

“The _best_ idea,” Sebastian says, putting the mug and bag on the counter. He wants to hug Kurt, but he still smells. 

“I have a surprise for you,” Kurt says, smiling the way he does before he surprises Sebastian in bed, but he has a feeling that’s not what’s happening right now. 

“Oh? Better than you showing up here like a godsend with solid food and real coffee?” 

“I don’t know about better, but...” Kurt trails off and takes a step to the side, motioning to further down the corridor. Sebastian follows his hand and feels his jaw drop when he sees Burt, standing next to Carole and...

“Sophie?!” Sebastian exclaims, loud enough for the people around him to turn and stare. Sebastian has a hard time caring about them right now, though, because his big sister is standing _here_ , at his job, on Christmas morning. 

She’s grinning as she makes her way over, and when she’s close enough, Sebastian doesn’t care that he still smells, he throws his arms around her and hugs her hard. 

“Merry Christmas, Sebby,” she says when they part, and Sebastian grimaces at the nickname, causing her to grin again. 

“But...how?” he says, looking between Kurt, Sophie, and Kurt’s parents. 

“Honestly, I wasn’t too keen on celebrating this year since, well,” she makes a gesture, indicating the breakup with her longterm boyfriend three weeks ago, “and Kurt knew, so when his parents decided to drive, he called and said they could pick me up and take me along.”

Sebastian looks between Kurt and Kurt’s parents again. “You...what?” he says, astounded. 

Kurt slips his hand into Sebastian’s and tugs him closer. “Dad called me just when you’d gone to work and said they’d drive up. I suggested they take Sophie, too. They arrived yesterday.”

“But I talked to you yesterday,” Sebastian says, not really comprehending. He had called Kurt sometime during the afternoon yesterday, when he’d had a few moments of peace and quiet. Kurt hadn’t said anything. 

The bedroom smile again. “Like I said, surprise,” Kurt says. Sebastian leans in to kiss him, smell be damned, but just then, his pager goes off. He checks it and sighs deeply, gives Kurt a quick kiss anyway, then grabs his coffee. It’s a decent temperature, so he gulps down half of it. 

“Ellie, keep this safe for me?” he says, addressing the nurse who’s been watching them with an unembarrassed smile the whole time. She nods and takes his coffee and food and puts them under the desk while Sebastian turns around to face his family again. 

“I have to go,” he says. 

“We kind of figured,” Kurt says with a wry smile. “Go, save lives. We’ll see you tonight.”

When Sebastian wanders off down the corridor, he feels a lot better than he did ten minutes ago. 

* * *

 

It’s late when Sebastian gets home, later than it should be. He’s not surprised, but a little disappointed, when the apartment is silent and the only one present is Kurt, curled up on the couch with a sketch pad in his lap. 

“You’re late,” Kurt says, but he doesn’t sound mad. 

“Yeah, but I said I would be,” Sebastian says. He wants to sit down on the couch, but he knows that if he does, he’s going to fall asleep, and he needs to shower. Again. 

Kurt looks up at him, eyebrows raised. “No, you didn’t.”

“Yes I did. I texted you. There was a traffic accident, so I texted you.”

“Sebastian, I didn’t get a text,” Kurt says, and he still sounds fond rather than exasperated, but Sebastian is getting annoyed. He texted, he knows he did. He grabs his phone and pulls up the conversation with Kurt. “Oh.”

He hold out the phone to Kurt, showing that he wrote the text alright, but he forgot to actually send it. “Sorry,” he says sheepishly, but Kurt just smiles. 

“It’s okay. Not like we had any plans. You want dinner? Carole cooked, there’s loads in the fridge.”

Sebastian shakes his head. “No. I need to shower, and sleep. I’ll eat tomorrow.” He stretches, and is just about to do just that, when he freezes. “Where are the others?” Their apartment only has one bedroom, and Sebastian is pretty sure the three of them are not cuddled up together in there. 

“Jenny’s apartment,” Kurt replies, pointing to the apartment above theirs. That’s right. They have the key, and Jenny is out of town. “Parents on the fold-out and Sophie in the bed.”

“Oh. Okay.” He stands still for a few seconds, trying to remember what he was supposed to do, and then Kurt’s hand on his brings him back.

“Are you gonna be able to shower or do you want me to help you?” he asks, and he’s only half-joking. 

“Well,” Sebastian says, grabbing Kurt’s hand to pull him up and around the couch. “I’m pretty sure I can handle it, but I never say no to having my boyfriend joining me in the shower.”

“Mm, good,” Kurt says, sliding his arms around Sebastian and kissing him. “How long are you going to sleep tomorrow?”

“Forever, probably,” Sebastian replies, because it feels like the truth. “Why?”

Kurt smiles, then kisses him right below the ear. “Just wondering if we have time to fuck before they come down for breakfast,” he says, his voice pitched low, and despite Sebastian’s total weariness, his dick still makes an interested move. 

“For that, I’ll allow you to wake me up,” he says, and reaches down to squeeze Kurt’s ass. “Tomorrow.”

“Technically today, but okay,” Kurt says and starts walking towards the bathroom. 

* * *

 

“Thank you,” Sebastian says when they’re in bed half an hour later. “For today. Despite--”

“Shh,” Kurt hushes. “It’s okay. You’re welcome. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> on [tumblr](http://flipmeforward.tumblr.com/post/104432742886/fic-these-moments-are-the-only-gifts-we-need).


End file.
